When Dragon Quest XI was first announced by Square Enix, it was during a time when the series’s presence on western shores was drying up. Dragon Quest X still hadn’t come over, nor had any handheld remakes after VI. Fans hoped, but it seemed chances were slim and getting slimmer that Square Enix even had an ear turned our way. Then, something miraculous happened: the seventh game got a 3DS remake, and Dragon Quest was alive again! Suddenly XI became not only a possibility but a probability. And, well, late last week, Dragon Quest series creator Yuji Hori released a video confirming that we would indeed see the game in the west, marked for 2018. Feast your eyes:

“Let me take this opportunity to announce that the localization for Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age has already begun,” says Yuji Hori. “The game is currently being localized into 5 languages, including English. There’s quite a lot of text, so it’s an exorbitant amount of work.” Yuji Hori didn’t specify the other four languages, but Spanish, French, and German are safe bets. Square Enix plans to release more information this fall, possibly to give details on the Nintendo Switch version we all but know is coming. Also no word on voice acting, but it’s unlikely considering the only DQ game to squeeze it in was VIII.

The game released in Japan this weekend, and certain retailers had limited special editions containing both the PS4 and 3DS versions of the game. Western fans planning on picking up both might want to keep their feelers out close to the western release, there’s sure to be some kind of bundle – even if it’s not that one. All great news so far, but Mr. Yuji Hori, there’s one last important matter we need to discuss.

Matt Eschbach is a PC, Mac and Android indie game developer and fiction writer. His works have won multiple monetary awards from various contests. Graduating college in 2012 with a major in Game Design, Matt spends his time making stuff up and then building it. His favorite hobby... is sleeping.